Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

– Psalms 133:1 (ESV)

Yes!

Unity is a beautiful thing; good and pleasant. And so badly needed.

And hard to maintain. Even a short jaunt through the God-blogosphere will prove that we Christians are not always unified. I find this sad.

But there is a path to unity. Peter spells it out very clearly:

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.

– 1 Peter 3:8-9 (ESV)

It involves sympathy, love for the brothers, a tender heart, and – something rarer than the most precious jewel – a humble mind. And it involves the ability, which can only come from the Lord, to bless when cursed, to refrain from reviling when reviled. This goes against the grain of our flesh and is one of the biggest struggles we sincere, passionate, thinking Christians face. It is not by accident that Peter writes “but on the contrary”. For the ability to bless when cursed is completely contrary to our flesh. Our old nature cannot bless when cursed.

But Jesus can. Jesus did. And He can do that through a heart tendered and a mind humbled and filled with love by His Holy Spirit. This is the way to unity, and to blessings we can’t imagine.